Distillation apparatus



' cps. HEMMl NGER DISTILLATION APPARATUS Original Filed Dec." 941959 Nov. 21, 1944.

on. Luvs Patented Now 21 1944 UNITED STAT s -PATENT OFFICE I v v 'ms'rmmnou-manarus I Charles E. Hemmlnger, Westflcld, N. "1., assignmg to Standard .Oil Develo V. gporiflon i im-.-

1 4 1-. The present iinvenflon treatment of hydrocarbon the present invention relates to-imp ts in the distillation of heavy'crudes so s-s to re- It is well known that in the distillation of a heavy reduced crude to recover gas oil, according to prior practice, large amounts of gasoline are produced by cracking. Since this gasoline is a, resist nt) cover a maximum amount of gas oil withamini mum amount of cracking and coke formation,

produced by thermal cracking, the octane num-v this type of operation is a poor cracking stock because it has become degraded during the distillation operation.

It is a principal object of the present invention to distill a heavy reduced crude such as'18% bottoms from East Texas crude (that is the residue remaining after 82% ,of the original crude has been removed by distillation) under conditions such that the gas oil is removed from the reduced crude without substantial cracking and according to one form of my invention this result is accomplished by simply heating the reduced crude sufliciently high so that when steam is admixed with the heated reduced crude, distillation of the gas oil takes place and the gas vapors are rapidly removed'from the distillation zone. i

A secondary object of my invention is to cause the residue of the reduced crude remaining after removal of the gas oil cut to pass through a distillation zone which is heated by direct steam and also by radiation from fired tubes, whereby a relatively fluffy or porous coke is formed which coke descends to the bottom of thecoking zone and is discharged from the bottom thereof. Other and further objects of my present invention will be obvious from the ensuing description.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, I provide a process and ap aratus which are fully disclosed in the present description and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing. I

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 shows a lines I.

pment Company, a cor.-

nam or adisfil Y H ir te-the ame; .1 heavy reduced crude suchias' an East Texas crude from which approximately 82% has been remov d y distillation, which. residue or reduced crude has an A. P. I. gravity of. 17?, is fed from 1 line I -to a header or manifold 2. Thestock is at a temperature of about 900}! while under a pressurecfabout 3 i050 pounds per square inch guage in line I. The heatedoil is discharged into a vessel 8 from'manifold' 2 through :branch pipes 3, and cups 4. The spray heads or nozzles 4 carry perforations of about to 54; inches in diameter in the bases or spray ends thereof, and the'oil is sprayed from spray heads 4 into theinterior of vessel 6 in the form of fine streams. To assist in the spraying operation, "steam is forced into the spray heads through branch As can be seen from the drawing, the vessel 6 is so formed and constructed that the upper .wall It slopes outwardly while the lower wall I I slopes inwardly. Surrounding the wall I0 is a manifold pipe H in communication with a series of secpositions around the wall, "I.

ondary manifold'pipes l5, which latter pipes are in turn in communication with branch pipes l6 projecting into the interior of the vessel 6. These branch pipes l6 are disposed-obliquely, with respect to sloping wall Ill, i. e., are not perpendicular to wall M, of vessel Ii. The number of manifolds l5 may vary from say 4 to 16 or' 20 and are disposed preferably at equally spaced The number of branch pipes l6 attached to a manifold l5 may also vary from 3 or 4 to 8 or 10. Steam is fed to manifold ll through valved line 20 and/or 2|.

Another manifold pipe 25 is disposed about the exterior of vessel 6 as shown. This manifold has a plurality of branch pipes 26in communication therewith which branch pipes project into the vessel 6, extend upwardly, substantially parallel to and in spaced relation with the wall l0, say 4 to 6 inches removed therefrom, then project out of the vessel and terminate in upper are burned in pipes 26, and the exhaust gases are withdrawn from upper manifold 30 through discharge line 32.

The purpose of both the steam manifolding system and the combustible gas manifolding system is to' provide a--heating means. That is to say, a gas such as water gas, natural gas, or any fuel gas is mixed with sufiieient air to cause oxidation of the combustible material in the fuel gas, preheated and pumped into manifold 25 at a temperature of about 800 F. The main combustion occurs within those portions of the sevto a temperature of 1000" F. or higher.

Referring back to the atomized oil issuing from spray heads 4, the said oil proceeds downwardly and in the vicinity of V, oil vapors are released from the droplets of heavy oil due to the radiant heatfrom pipes 26, the. superheated steam and, countercurrently flowing oil vapors, from lower levels encountered in this environment. The mixture of oil vapors and steam is withdrawn through line 50. The heavy oil continues in its descent from V downwardly toward the zone C and in so doing accumulates heat sufficient to reduce the oil to a hard coke and vapors. Normally gaseous hydrocarbons, gasoline, vapors, gas oil vapors and steam pass upwardly through vessel.6 and are discharged through line 50 and then pass to a fractionating system (not shown). The gas oil obtained forms a good cracking stock. The coke produced drops to the region represented generally by R, in which is located a conical element 60 mounted on a rotatable shaft. The cone- 60 is disposed eccentrically with respect to the vertical axis of the base 62 of vessel 6. Bevel gear 64 is securely mounted on shaft 6| and engages pinion 63 securely mounted on shaft 65, a projection of which shaft is attached to a driving means (not shown). Rotation of grinding cone 60 causes the coke conglomerates to be crushed. The coke is recovered through line 66. Steam at about 800 F. is admitted through line 66 to assist the vaporization operation.

The precise details of operation and/or construction herein set forth are purely illustrative and do not impose any limitation on my invention since numerous modifications of my invention falling within the spirit thereof will have been suggested to-those familiar with this art after they have read the present disclosure. For example, any tendency ofcoke to deposit on the tubes 26 can be counteracted by periodically cooling the tubes by circulation therethrough of a cooling fluid whereupon the tubes will be caused Q to contract and any coke adhering to the tube surface will be dislodged by expansion and contraction of the tube surfaces. Of conrse,'mechanical scraping means could also be employed for this same purpose of removing coke from the tubes, i. e., either tubes 26 or the ends of pipe l6 lying within the vessel 6'.

To recapitulate, the present invention comprises an apparatus and a process in which a heavy stock such as a reduced crude is distilled without substantial cracking to form gas oil, gasmoved from the distillation zone and overheating is prevented.

What I claim is:

1. A distillation vessel of the character described comprising in combination, a main distillation vessel having inclined side walls which slope outwardly in the upper portion and inwardly in the lower portion of said vessel; a plurality of tubes arranged'within the upper portion 'of said vessel adapted to contain a combustion gas, disposed at spaced intervalssubstantially parallel and relatively close to the walls of the upper portion of said vessel, said tubes extending over a substantial portion of the height of the upper portion of said vessel; a plurality of tubes projecting through the wall of the upper portion of said vessel and having openings within said vessel in close proximity to said first-named tubes; means for introducing a combustible gas into said first-named tubes; means for introducing steam through said second-named tubes into said vessel; means for introducing hydrocarbon oil into the distillation vessel; means for withdrawing vaporous products from said distillation vessel; and means for withdrawing the residue resulting from the distillation from said vessel.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the openings of said second-named tubes are arranged in such a manner as to conductv the steam introduced into said vessel toward the surfaces of said first-named tubes.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said second-named tubes are arranged at vertically and circumferentially spaced points along the periphery of the upper portion of said vessel, the openings of said second-named tubes within said vessel being directed toward the vertical axis of the upper portion of said vessel.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the said second-named tubes adapted to conduct steam to the interior of the vessel are disposed obliquely in respect to the surface of said side walls.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the distillation vessel is in communication at its residue discharge end with a grinding means.

CHARLES E. I-IEMMINGER. 

